So, in summary:
Cairns are in nomatter what, 2~4
Hawks can guarantee a spot with a win, or must rely on Perth to win, 2~4
Perth can guarantee a spot with a win, or must rely on Brisbane to win, 2~4
NZ get in if MU beat Perth, 3~4
MU cannot make it

So if Brisbane win Cats are in? I believe that game just gained 10,000 more viewers.

Would be nice in the Bullets got up (as a Cats fan) as the stress levels will ease a bit for Sunday.

If only Beal was still playing, I'm sure he and Tommy would love to help out.
ROFL

NBL TV is likely to meltdown for that final game. (Assuming Hawks win tomorrow)
4 teams with their finals hopes and/or matchups will be hanging on that game.

Imagine if Perth lose and NZ get in, that's probably the 4 lowest budgets in the NBL.

Would be nice in the Bullets got up (as a Cats fan) as the stress levels will ease a bit for Sunday.

Nz were paying $13 to make the playoffs BEFORE this round. I loaded up on that. All that remains is a Melbourne united team with nothing to play for to upset them. Hope they come to play

To upset Perth that is ^

Dazz
Where have I gone wrong in my 4 way table Cairns,Melbourne, Breakers, Perth ?
I am assuming Melbourne will win and Illawarra and Adelaide win. So this is for 3rd-6th.
Pts differential will change with Melbourne v Perth result.
C M B P Wins Mini-T Pt Diff
C 0(-21)4(31)2(-6) 14 6 4
M 4(21) 1(-5)0(-8) 13 5 7
B 0(-31)3(5) 3(15) 14 6 -11
P 2(6) 3(8) 1(-15) 14 6 -1

Personally, I Love the Adelaide Hawks Cairns NZ scenario as I have a thing for the lower budget teams plus Cairns hawks and adelaide have multiple qld'ers... But to step back from that, it's not at all a great scenario for the NBL.

With Melb and Kings cooked, I think they'll be joining the thousands of Perth fans hoping they get in.. Regardless of results you gotta think Perth are a good chance v MU With Melbourne playing for nothing...

Sunday will be fascinating. It's sold out, the place will be rocking, the Melbourne guys will soon forget it's not a meaningful game and just hoop, it will come down to how clinical Perth can be.

We saw it with NZ the past two games, these hardened teams can get it done when it's really on the line, so I expect the Cats to win but I think they're going to have to play very well.

Casper Chump Ware to be the next import with a mind exploding dummy spit and lose his shite in Perth.

This season has proved that 10 guys wanting to play at the highest level beats a team of retiring nobodies or team cancers any day.

Great recruiting by Lemanis, worked well for him. Would bottom for Brisbane bury the idea that we need a team in Brisbane? Can't see many supporters flocking to buy season tickets after this season.

"Would bottom for Brisbane bury the idea that we need a team in Brisbane?"

No.

Tom

Cairns 7W-5L +22
Breakers 6W-6L -13
Perth 6W-6L -7
Melbourne 5W-7L -2


So Cairns take 3rd and NZ/Perth. From NBL press release the other day, they ignore points differential in this minitable and resolve the tie between NZ/Perth by looking at the head to head win-loss between the two of them:

Breakers 3W-1L +15
Perth 1W-3L -15

Breakers take 4th
Perth 5th
Melbourne 6th

Thanks PeterJohn
Two more questions though.
Melbourne will go to 6-6 won't they if they win tomorrow.
I also have Cairns at 6-6.
I had to go back round by round to get my table so chances are I have made mistakes. The NBL website does not have all the results in one place.

No, Melbourne are currently 4-7 (1-3 v NZ, 0-3 v Perth and 3-1 v Cairns), so a win tomorrow makes them 5-7.

I don't think so, NZ won by five at Vector in R1, by six in OT at Hisense in R5 or 6, and then on Friday at NSEC.

NZ are 3-1 over Melbourne

Thanks Peter John
Doubled checked and your analysis is spot on.
Melbourne have to beat Perth for Breakers to go through.

It's interesting, Goulding and Ware have both gone two games in a row without getting hot from outside. If I was going to put a tip in, I'd suggest there's a real chance they throw caution to the wind and let it fly. And one gets going.

Having said that, Gouldings ankle appears to me to be struggling so who knows.

I think Melbourne wouldn't want to win as that will allow a non Australian team in the finals.

But the NBL owner who is also the owner of Melb would want NZ in as it makes a good business case for a second NZ team.

Illawarra should win.

Meaning MU will have the chance to knock Perth out and bring the 30 yr streak to an end!

Dazz
Where have I gone wrong in my 4 way table Cairns,Melbourne, Breakers, Perth ?
I am assuming Melbourne will win and Illawarra and Adelaide win. So this is for 3rd-6th.
Pts differential will change with Melbourne v Perth result.
C M B P Wins Mini-T Pt Diff
C 0(-21)4(31)2(-6) 14 6 4
M 4(21) 1(-5)0(-8) 13 5 7
B 0(-31)3(5) 3(15) 14 6 -11
P 2(6) 3(8) 1(-15) 14 6 -1

From NBL press release the other day, they ignore points differential in this minitable and resolve the tie between NZ/Perth by looking at the head to head win-loss between the two of them

If Perth lose it will be 36ers Vs Breakers and Cairns Vs Hawks in the semi's
If Perth win tomorrow we will have 36ers Vs Hawks, Cairns Vs Perth.

Im getting a semi with the latter matchup.

"Goulding should rest his ankle. There's no point risking it in a meaningless game."

I strongly agree!

I think Goulding should play. Perth need someone who can go 3/21 from the field :P

If Perth lose, 6's must face the Breakers, and I will shit myself laughing when the 6's go out in straight sets.

Going into finals on a 4 game losing streak is pretty concerning for the 36ers. They might be sitting on top of the ladder but the finals is a totally different ball game and the 36ers don't have a lot of finals experience.

Easy there o great one Dazz! If I may have take a small slice of the heavily dominated cyberspace of hoops.com.au in among your countless posts and threads...

There were many who predicted all sorts of interesting things about the 36ers and Joey Wright before the season and during the early part thereof, all of them, including some 36ers fans have at least one carton of egg on their faces now.

How about we learn from that little mess and at least wait until the semi finals have concluded before your prediction is so certain?